Maloney, Bryan Transcript.xml
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Part of Bryan Maloney Oral History
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1
Bryan Maloney
Interview with: Bryan Maloney
Marist University
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Lola-Dillon Cahill
For the Marist University Archives and Special Collections
2
Bryan Maloney
Interviewee: Bryan Maloney
Interviewer: Gus Nolan
Interview Date: 28 June 2017
Location: James A. Cannavino Library
Topic: In this interview, Gus Nolan asks Bryan Maloney questions about his time as a Marist
student, a middle school teacher, his work in Marist Admissions, and other positions. They
discuss both of their opinions on the direction of the institution.
Subject Headings: Marist University
Marist University, Poughkeepsie, New York
Marist Brothers
Marist College Admissions
Marist College Advancement
Summary: Gus Nolan and Bryan Maloney discuss their thoughts on how Marist has grown
over the past several decades. They also discuss Maloney’s upbringing from childhood, his
career in higher education, his fond memories of the school, views of the current student
body, and much more.
3
Bryan Maloney
00;00;03;08 - 00;00;06;03
Bryan Maloney
Take it from the top.
John Ansley
It’s running.
00;00;06;06 - 00;00;11;13
Gus Nolan
All right. Good morning. Hold on [pause].
00;00;17;15 - 00;00;23;00
GN
Hello. We’re talking now, you don’t hear it yet? He doesn’t hear me yet.
00;00;23;08 - 00;00;28;27
JA
4
Bryan Maloney
Yeah. We're getting the levels up. Yeah. And I did a test, so it ended playback.
00;00;29;00 - 00;00;32;04
GN
Alright, okay.
00;00;32;06 - 00;00;33;21
JA
Let's take this out, then.
00;00;33;21 - 00;00;51;08
GN
Getting ready to go. You hear me now? Okay. Today is Wednesday, the 28th of June. We're
interviewing Bryan Maloney, a class graduate of 1972. Good morning, Bryan.
00;00;51;11 - 00;00;52;19
BM
Good morning, Gus.
5
Bryan Maloney
00;00;52;21 - 00;01;09;25
GN
Bryan, I just said you graduated in ‘72, and you were here just last Saturday for a Marist
event. That’s forty-five years. What is it that brings you back all these years? I've seen you
here ten times a year for the last thirty years. That's three hundred times.
00;01;09;27 - 00;01;11;25
BM
Well, probably a bit more than that.
00;01;12;01 - 00;01;18;28
GN
Oh, I'm sure there is. I wasn't counting, I was just taking a shot at it <laugh>.
00;01;19;01 - 00;01;41;06
BM
6
Bryan Maloney
Well, good shot <laugh>. But yeah. Well, I mean, since I graduated, I've always remained
kind of close to the college, I came back to work here in 1979. <Affirmative>. Dennis Murray
and I started the same day, August 1
st
, 1979, I came to work in the admissions office. When
I was a student, I did an internship in admissions.
00;01;41;08 - 00;01;43;18
GN
Oh. You did?
00;01;43;21 - 00;02;01;22
BM
Yeah, with Dave Flynn. And Jim Daley was my internship partner, a classmate of mine. And
by 1979, Jim had become director of admissions here and he was trying to coax me back
into admissions. I was teaching down at Bishop Dunn in Newburgh.
00;02;01;29 - 00;02;03;05
GN
I see.
7
Bryan Maloney
00;02;03;07 - 00;02;05;25
BM
Teaching, you know, sixth, seventh and eighth grade math and social studies.
00;02;05;25 - 00;02;09;27
GN
I see, oh, I didn't realize you were a teacher there. Go ahead.
00;02;09;29 - 00;02;26;11
BM
And then, Jim finally convinced me that I should please come back to Marist. And, like, I
would convince myself. But since I like to eat, that you know, maybe I should, because, I
was getting sick and tired of cheeseburgers every day.
00;02;26;13 - 00;02;29;00
GN
Right. Okay.
8
Bryan Maloney
00;02;29;00 - 00;02;32;08
BM
Although, it was worth it, you know you'd make a lot of money as a Catholic school teacher.
GN
No, I--.
BM
I mean it was great, but so--.
00;02;34;15 - 00;02;43;12
GN
Yeah. So, you didn't have to--yes. All right. Back to the beginning there. How did it all start?
Where were you born and brought up? What school did you go to?
00;02;43;14 - 00;03;27;06
BM
9
Bryan Maloney
I was born in Flushing, New York. And, my family lived in Jackson Heights at the time. And
then when I was about four, we moved out to Nassau County in Long Island, Bethpage.
Where I attended public school. I am in school until the middle of sixth grade when my
parish opened up a Catholic school, and I had to leave in the middle of the year and go to
Catholic school to finish sixth grade. Over that summer, we moved out to Saint James in
Suffolk County. And then I went to Saints Philip and James School for seventh and eighth
grade in Saint James. And then on to Saint Anthony’s High School.
00;03;27;04 - 00;03;27;17
GN
Saint Anthony’s High School, okay.
00;03;27;21 - 00;03;28;24
BM
Which was then in Smithtown.
00;03;29;01 - 00;03;35;12
GN
10
Bryan Maloney
Okay. And then after high school now, or let’ s go to college now, did you go to college right
after high school?
00;03;35;13 - 00;03;35;21
BM
Yeah.
00;03;35;28 - 00;03;37;03
GN
Yeah, you did.
00;03;37;06 - 00;03;44;22
BM
And I found out about Marist from those that were a year ahead of me in Saint Anthony's
who came to Marist.
00;03;44;24 - 00;03;45;11
GN
11
Bryan Maloney
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;03;45;13 - 00;04;09;02
BM
And, you know, so I would see them and run into them, you know, when they were home.
That's how I found out about Marist. I came up and visited. I didn't get started with my
college applications until late in my senior year, but I came up and visited Marist in March
of my senior year, and, I just knew that this was where I was going to go.
00;04;09;03 - 00;04;29;17
GN
It was just a primitive place, still, was it not? In those years, I mean, the dormitories were,
what was up yet? Yeah, was Fontaine up-or no, excuse me- was [pause] do, I’m getting
them in my mind. Leo Hall was not yet up, was it?
00;04;29;19 - 00;04;33;22
BM
Oh no, it was. It was Sheahan, Leo, and Champagnat were all up.
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Bryan Maloney
00;04;33;24 - 00;04;34;12
GN
Oh were they?
00;04;34;13 - 00;04;37;28
BM
And. Yeah, so Champagnat being the newest, you know, so.
00;04;37;29 - 00;04;39;10
GN
Yeah, no, I see.
00;04;39;13 - 00;04;56;14
BM
And I had the great, you know, was very fortunate to live in Champagnat all four years.
Which was great because I hate cold and I hate the winter. So, to go to meals in the campus
center.
13
Bryan Maloney
00;04;56;21 - 00;04;58;02
GN
Yeah. Downstairs.
00;04;58;05 - 00;05;05;18
BM
I mean, middle of winter we could go and show up in shorts and flip flops and a t-shirt. And
everybody else was coming over in winter coats and boots and hats and everything.
00;05;05;20 - 00;05;09;16
GN
Oh, okay. Who was your proctor on your floor?
00;05;09;16 - 00;05;26;00
BM
My freshman year, I lived on the first floor, East—no, I lived on the first floor West. And it
was Louie Albert. He was a math professor. He was our proctor on that floor.
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Bryan Maloney
00;05;27;02 - 00;05;36;19
GN
You never had LaPietra, or any of the brothers in those years, did you?
00;05;37;10 - 00;05;44;13
BM
I’m trying to think. My sophomore year I think we had Brother Pat Forsyth.
00;05;44;16 - 00;05;51;24
GN
Oh, okay. Well, you didn't have the real discipline then, did you? About study only from
seven to nine. Doors open.
00;05;51;24 - 00;05;53;06
BM
My freshman year we did.
00;05;53;08 - 00;05;53;18
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Bryan Maloney
GN
Oh, you did?
00;05;53;18 - 00;05;54;18
BM
That all changed.
00;05;54;19 - 00;06;00;14
GN
That all changed, yeah. Yeah. Okay. What did you major in while you were here?
00;06;00;16 - 00;06;02;13
BM
Well, I started as a chemistry major.
00;06;02;15 - 00;06;03;03
GN
16
Bryan Maloney
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
00;06;03;05 - 00;06;17;13
BM
And, I had to-you know, what I wanted to do was teach chemistry in high school, but, one of
the things that I didn't take into account was the smell of chemistry labs. This is before
there were fume hoods and all those.
00;06;17;18 - 00;06;18;22
GN
I see.
00;06;18;24 - 00;06;26;16
BM
And actually, you know, you could get by. You know, labs in high school were not that long.
00;06;26;16 - 00;06;27;13
GN
17
Bryan Maloney
Right.
00;06;27;15 - 00;06;38;17
BM
It was still smelly. But, doing—when it came, starting here, you know, we had labs for three
hours at a time. I'm getting nauseous just smelling the chem labs.
00;06;38;20 - 00;06;41;17
GN
So let's not go there. I got the picture <laugh>.
00;06;41;20 - 00;06;46;03
BM
So I decided, you know, maybe chemistry, I mean, I could teach something else, you know?
So—.
00;06;46;03 - 00;06;48;07
GN
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Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;06;48;09 - 00;06;54;03
BM
You know, so I switched, I changed my major to history, but I kept taking math courses
because I liked math.
00;06;54;05 - 00;06;55;22
GN
I see.
00;06;55;24 - 00;07;11;00
BM
You know, so, which served me well later on when I, like, when I was hired at Bishop Dunne,
as a social studies teacher, they asked me if I could also teach math, and I said, oh, sure, I
was very comfortable doing so.
GN
19
Bryan Maloney
Yeah. I see.
BM
Yeah, so I was glad I stuck with those math courses.
00;07;11;00 - 00;07;18;11
GN
Yeah. Well, high school math would be what? Geometry? Or trigonometry at the most?
00;07;18;13 - 00;07;20;19
BM
Oh, yeah. But I taught sixth, seventh, and eighth grade.
00;07;20;23 - 00;07;23;26
GN
Oh, okay. Yeah.
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Bryan Maloney
00;07;23;28 - 00;07;26;20
BM
You know, so. You’ve got the algebra [inaudible].
00;07;26;22 - 00;07;34;10
GN
Right. Did you work while you were in college? You know, on-campus or off-campus or—?
00;07;34;12 - 00;07;58;13
BM
You know, both. I mean, my freshman year, I actually hooked up with some musicians and
convinced two guys who were juniors, I think sophomores and juniors, one was a singer
and one was a guitar player. And they had an act going, and I convinced them that they
needed a drummer.
00;07;58;15 - 00;07;59;02
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
21
Bryan Maloney
00;07;59;04 - 00;08;08;29
BM
And I didn't have a set of drums, but I knew one of the guys from my high school who was a
sophomore at Marist. I knew he had drums.
00;08;09;02 - 00;08;09;12
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;08;09;12 - 00;08;12;10
BM
So I would borrow his drums and, you know, we would play.
00;08;12;13 - 00;08;13;18
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
22
Bryan Maloney
00;08;13;21 - 00;08;20;04
BM
At some clubs, you know, around the area. There was actually pretty good money in it, you
know.
00;08;20;06 - 00;08;23;03
GN
Oh, I see. Did you ever have lessons in drumming?
00;08;23;05 - 00;08;26;00
BM
No. I used to play the drum and bugle corps when I was a kid, so.
00;08;26;01 - 00;08;28;20
GN
Oh, I see.
BM
23
Bryan Maloney
<Clears throat> Then the rest was kind of, like—.
GN
Natural to you?
BM
Yeah
GN
Okay.
00;08;30;23 - 00;08;41;28
BM
So then, and then, sophomore year, I worked for the [inaudible] food service.
00;08;42;00 - 00;08;42;24
GN
24
Bryan Maloney
I see.
00;08;42;26 - 00;08;44;00
BM
In the slop room.
00;08;44;03 - 00;08;45;00
GN
I see.
00;08;45;02 - 00;08;45;07
BM
Where everybody returns their trays and dirty dishes.
00;08;45;08 - 00;08;47;24
GN
Yeah, I know it only too well. Yes.
25
Bryan Maloney
00;08;47;28 - 00;08;55;27
BM
And, so we had a lot of fun there. And then, we also worked like, oh, well we had a month
off in—.
00;08;56;00 - 00;08;57;01
GN
January.
00;08;57;03 - 00;09;09;13
BM
For semester break and, we worked, my roommate Bill [inaudible] and I, we worked at
Western Printing during the day.
00;09;09;15 - 00;09;10;09
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
26
Bryan Maloney
00;09;10;24 - 00;09;19;28
BM
And then at night we worked security for Marist. And, you know, so we never got a job
bartending around Derby. You know, which was—.
00;09;20;00 - 00;09;20;10
GN
Oh.
00;09;20;14 - 00;09;22;09
BM
Actually ideal.
00;09;22;11 - 00;09;24;19
GN
Was Doc Doherty an employee there yet?
27
Bryan Maloney
00;09;24;21 - 00;09;25;19
BM
Um—.
00;09;25;22 - 00;09;27;10
GN
Or had he moved on?
00;09;27;10 - 00;09;29;14
BM
You know, I think Doc was. Yeah.
GN
Okay.
00;09;29;16 - 00;09;33;25
BM
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Bryan Maloney
And Andy Droves was class of ‘68 and a bunch of other Marist guys.
00;09;33;21 - 00;09;43;23
GN
Okay. I really want to get to something more pressing at the moment, and that is, there
must be—did you go to graduate school?
00;09;43;25 - 00;09;44;26
BM
I did indeed.
00;09;44;28 - 00;09;50;29
GN
And you did, administration or fundraising or what was the—?
00;09;50;29 - 00;09;55;18
BM
I got a master's in public administration, from John Jay College.
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Bryan Maloney
00;09;55;20 - 00;10;00;20
GN
Okay. If you, did you live in the city when you did that, or—?
00;10;00;22 - 00;10;01;10
BM
No, I lived in Poughkeepsie.
00;10;01;10 - 00;10;04;05
GN
You lived in Poughkeepsie, and went down on the train to John Jay?
00;10;04;07 - 00;10;08;04
BM
No, actually, at the time, I was working at Saint Thomas Aquinas College. A lot of them
[inaudible].
30
Bryan Maloney
00;10;08;04 - 00;10;09;17
GN
I see.
00;10;09;20 - 00;10;28;27
BM
And John Jay had an extension center at West Point. So, that was kind of like on my way
home every day. So it was, you know, okay for me that you know, to take the courses at
West Point, because was on my way home. So that's where I did it.
00;10;28;29 - 00;10;57;17
GN
Very good. Let's go back to Marist again. Now, you were employed here, then, with Dennis
Murray coming on board, and you were coming on board. And, what was the situation?
Well, what was the need for Marist? Do we—were we struggling to survive or had we
crossed that bridge? And we were doing pretty well in those years, roughly speaking?
00;10;57;17 - 00;11;33;25
BM
31
Bryan Maloney
Well, you know, I think we were just holding our own. You know, it was 1979. <Clears
throat> Excuse me. The economy wasn't fabulous, but [pause]. You know, I think, you know,
Marist had made a couple of rules in previous years. I mean, one, they got a Title III grant,
which was important, I think that was in ‘77 or ‘78. And, picked up, when Bennett College
closed, in Millbrook, we picked up their fashion merchandising program.
00;11;33;28 - 00;11;37;05
GN
Oh, yeah.
00;11;37;07 - 00;11;49;12
BM
And, so that was a boom to the enrollment. But there, you know, it was kind of pretty lean, I
mean, you know, working in admissions at the time.
00;11;49;13 - 00;11;50;00
GN
Yeah.
32
Bryan Maloney
00;11;50;02 - 00;11;55;20
BM
You know, we were selling the school, when there wasn't that much to sell.
00;11;55;27 - 00;11;56;26
GN
Right.
00;11;56;28 - 00;12;14;03
BM
And, so it was challenging. But there was one thing that I think I know drew me to Marist
immediately when I came to campus. There was kind of a [inaudible] among the students.
00;12;14;05 - 00;12;14;25
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;12;14;28 - 00;12;27;19
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Bryan Maloney
BM
There was a slight feeling like, okay, we might be an underdog, but we're going to beat you
somehow. We're going to, you know. Yeah. And there was that kind of a spirit.
00;12;27;25 - 00;12;28;02
GN
I see.
00;12;28;03 - 00;12;40;28
BM
When I was a student, you know, and then later on in, you know, in working here, I think, you
know, that was conveyed somehow—that spirit here, when people came to campus.
00;12;40;28 - 00;12;41;22
GN
Yeah.
00;12;41;24 - 00;13;03;24
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Bryan Maloney
BM
So, yeah, it was challenging. But, you know, Dennis Murray had a vision. And this still stays
with me after all these years. I mean, in his first addresses, you know, to faculty and staff,
you know, he talked about gaining a national reputation for Marist.
00;13;04;01 - 00;13;05;28
GN
Yeah.
00;13;06;00 - 00;13;09;08
BM
But we all thought he was nuts, you know. I mean, it was like, how the heck are we going to
do this?
00;13;09;10 - 00;13;11;13
GN
Get across the Hudson would be fine, you know [laugh].
35
Bryan Maloney
00;13;11;17 - 00;13;17;05
BM
You know, I mean? So, but, you know, he you know, took a very long view.
00;13;17;07 - 00;13;18;10
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;13;18;12 - 00;13;37;16
BM
And I think, you know, he knew that he wanted, you know, some of the flagship programs in
communications, and in computer science. He saw those as two huge assets. He really
played those things up. And the internship programs, I think was another big plus, that he
thought he could leverage. The Marist Institute of Public Opinion, he thought he could
leverage that.
00;13;37;18 - 00;13;38;02
GN
36
Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;13;38;06 - 00;13;47;10
BM
So, he had a pretty grand vision, you know?
00;13;47;17 - 00;13;48;07
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;13;48;09 - 00;13;59;27
BM
And he stuck to it over the years. And, you know, I give him a lot of credit, because he
believed in it before I think a lot of other people could even see it.
00;14;00;06 - 00;14;01;09
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
37
Bryan Maloney
00;14;01;12 - 00;14;03;28
BM
So, I give him tremendous credit for that.
00;14;04;00 - 00;15;34;00
GN
Yeah. That fits into my next question. You look at Marist, now and the contrast between the
old view that we had, are we going to survive? You know, and the view now, I don't know that
I could get in here, much less teach here, you know? In terms of the requirements and
credentials before applying, you know? And so, you say, well, how did this happen? You
know what’s the transfer? I—you mentioned Dennis Murray, but no one ever came here for
his courses. I mean, he's not a great teacher or—that's not the point whether he was or was
not—he was not known to be a teacher. But there were factors involved, and I don't know if
there's one more than the other, or they’re all equal. One, the Marist traditions, because
Marist schools in New York were feeders from the beginning. We’re seventy miles from New
York City. So, we're on a location of the Hudson that's easy to get to. You know, that would
be another. This—you know, Dennis Murray of course, made a major role. And, reaching
out, of course, Linus had set IBM in place, but if he were to be able to capitalize that on
even more, I suppose, in terms of those things. But from an admissions point of view, what
38
Bryan Maloney
would you have said is part of this, the Marist spirit? The kids? They seem to draw each
other. I mean, they’re influenced by one another.
15;34;08 - 00;15;45;06
BM
I think they're—I think that was a part of it. I think a number of things. The location was
great for anybody from the tri-state area.
00;15;45;08 - 00;15;45;26
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;15;45;29 - 00;15;56;09
BM
It had a great location. It was—you know, it was far enough away, but not too far that you
had, you know, take airplane flights all the time.
00;15;56;09 - 00;15;57;16
39
Bryan Maloney
GN
You get home overnight.
00;15;57;16 - 00;16;18;01
BM
Right, there was that. There was—one of the big things too, from an admission standpoint
[clears throat]. Excuse me, was, the New York State tuition assistance program. For New
York state residents, if they went to School in New York State, they could be eligible for a
TAP Grant.
00;16;18;03 - 00;16;18;10
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;16;18;11 - 00;16;29;19
BM
If they're, depending on their financial need. And those sort of things, if, you know, if they
were eligible for that, they could use it at any public or private school in New York State, but
not out of New York State.
40
Bryan Maloney
00;16;29;19 - 00;16;33;12
GN
I see, yeah.
00;16;33;12 - 00;17;05;17
BM
So, it kept New York State residents local. And that was a factor. Plus, I thought, you know,
parents particularly, they looked at, you know, well, if I spend this money on my child's
education, you know, I want them to be able to get a job. Because they'd been through
recessions in the ‘70s, and they were like ( ). You know, so the internship programs were a
big factor in reassuring, you know, families that, you know, they're going to have some
practical experience and a degree when they graduate.
00;17;05;22 - 00;17;06;16
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;17;06;19 - 00;17;37;29
41
Bryan Maloney
BM
So those were things that we leveraged in admissions. And I think that helped
tremendously. And then, you know, once kids got here, the way that Marist people bonded.
And today, I mean, even I have friends who didn’t go to Marist who just marvel at the way
that you know, when Marist people get together, it’s just this natural bond. And they’ve
stayed in touch all these years, and they marvel at that.
GN
Uh-huh, yeah.
00;17;38;02 - 00;17;40;06
BM
Because, they didn't have that experience within their own colleges.
00;17;40;08 - 00;18;52;06
GN
Yeah. I’ve asked—I had father LaMorte here once for this kind of an interview, and I was
asking him of the differences that he saw in his time. He didn't come here, but he did as a
chaplain at the beginning, and later on. And he talked about the economic difference in the
42
Bryan Maloney
students. Two or three people might have had cars when he first came here twenty-five or
thirty years ago. You know, and it looked like they had been banged by trains or something
because they were kind of wrecks. Now, he couldn't afford the cars that most of these
students here have, you know. So, the change in the economic situation of the country all
the tide—the tide went up, the economy is better. And, I suppose we can afford—the point
that you make getting a job seems still to be significant. The tuition now is $50,000 a year.
That's 200,000 for the four years. Are you going to get a job that's going to be able to do
that? So that's part of another question. Is it just to get a job, or is to earn a living, or to learn
how to live, you know? <Laugh>
00;18;52;10 - 00;19;22;08
BM
Well, you know, I mean, having worked in higher ed most of my career [pause] that's a great
question, because it just comes from, from people's needs. I mean, back, I think when I
came to Marist, the thinking was, well, you know, as long as you have a bachelor's degree—
doesn’t make a difference what it’s in—you know, companies and corporations, they’ll train
you. Because they know you’re trainable.
00;19;22;08 - 00;19;24;06
GN
43
Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;19;24;05 - 00;19;29;11
BM
And, you know, Dennis Murray used to always call the liberal arts “the furniture of the
mind”.
00;19;29;11 - 00;19;31;14
GN
Yeah. Yeah.
00;19;31;16 - 00;19;33;08
BM
You know—.
00;19;33;10 - 00;19;38;06
GN
It's been pushed aside a little bit now for, computer science, and—.
44
Bryan Maloney
00;19;38;09 - 00;19;59;29
BM
Well, yeah, maybe it has. Yeah. But you know, I mean, now, I mean, one of the challenges I
think the facing Marist—and not only Marist but all of higher ed, is the fact that yeah, as the
prices escalated, most of the courses that, you know, you could go to college and take, lots
of times you can take them online for nothing.
00;20;00;01 - 00;20;00;21
GN
Yeah.
00;20;00;24 - 00;20;02;20
BM
Stanford, I think their whole curriculum is online.
00;20;02;22 - 00;20;04;06
GN
45
Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;20;04;09 - 00;20;08;00
BM
And you can take it for nothing. You’re maybe not going to get credit unless you pay.
00;20;08;00 - 00;20;08;13
GN
Yeah.
00;20;08;16 - 00;20;48;22
BM
But, I mean, that's, you know, I think a trend. I mean, practically anything somebody wants
to learn, they can do that because of the internet and things that are out there. Now, is that
as valuable as the experience of attending a college like Marist for four years, and being,
you know, enmeshed in an academic community. That's a question that, you know, a lot of
institutions and individuals I think are going to have to answer moving forward. You know,
what is the value?
46
Bryan Maloney
00;20;48;24 - 00;20;49;08
GN
Yeah.
00;20;49;12 - 00;21;09;09
BM
And, you know, I think—I think that, the moral and ethical side is something that, I hope
doesn't get pushed to the side.
00;21;09;11 - 00;21;10;06
GN
Uh-huh
00;21;10;08 - 00;21;19;29
BM
Because you can have all the technical expertise and, you know, abilities in the world. If
you don't know how to use them for good.
47
Bryan Maloney
00;21;20;07 - 00;21;21;29
GN
Yeah, yeah.
00;21;22;01 - 00;21;23;00
BM
<Laugh> We're going to have problems.
00;21;23;05 - 00;21;24;01
GN
Oh, yeah.
00;21;24;04 - 00;21;31;23
BM
You know? So, that's a challenge I think that's going to be facing, you know, all institutions.
00;21;31;25 - 00;22;06;13
48
Bryan Maloney
GN
All right. Look into the Crystal Ball. Where do you see us ten years from now or twenty years
from now? Is Marist still going to be here? Do we need a college education? You know, is it
something that is—does it have a dim future or, we're in a good position now, but, can we
maintain this? Can I, you know, can taking courses online be sufficient? We don't need the
campus. You know, these are fundamental questions, I guess, that are on the table.
00;22;06;22 - 00;22;26;28
BM
Well, it is a great question. And, here's the thing. I mean, spending most of my career in
higher education in the advancement area and the fundraising area. People would ask me,
well, you know, what does the college need? I said, colleges have no needs.
00;22;27;00 - 00;22;27;26
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;22;27;29 - 00;22;29;03
BM
49
Bryan Maloney
People have needs.
00;22;29;06 - 00;22;30;00
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;22;30;03 - 00;23;01;28
BM
Colleges have means of meeting those needs. They have solutions, but they don't have
needs. So, the needs of the people will determine whether Marist is going to be here in ten
years, in twenty years. The needs of society, the needs of individuals. And Marist’s ability to
meet those needs is going to determine, I believe, you know, whether it's still going to be
here, whether it still has value.
00;23;02;00 - 00;23;03;15
GN
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
50
Bryan Maloney
00;23;03;17 - 00;23;11;01
BM
And that's, as I say, that’s a challenge for all institutions. But that's the way I look at it,
because—.
00;23;11;04 - 00;23;45;15
GN
Yeah. Well, we may not need a course in old English literature, outside of amusement on
how the early stories ( ). But I think the MedTech program has a practical application.
People want to stay well when they fall. They want to be able to be cured of it, you know?
And so that building over there that we recently put up, it would probably be, you know,
more of a lifesaver than we appreciate. Given those points you just made, you know?
00;23;45;20 - 00;24;22;03
BM
Well, that's because society has a need for physician’s assistants and, you know, all the
other, associated fields in medical technology. But, because Marist is meeting a need that
society has, that people have. So, that's a great step in the right direction, you know? I’m
51
Bryan Maloney
sure that you know, whether the world needs another law school, I’m not so sure. But, you
know.
00;24;22;06 - 00;24;43;00
GN
Yeah, I—there was a question about the new president. Is this in the mind of the trustees
that they say, well, you know, law is always a source of great income for lawyers. Not so
much in our day. I mean, some of them are making minimal salaries, and many are looking
for something better to do.
00;24;43;02 - 00;25;15;25
GN
And ( ) from court to court. You say there's no needs of the college and that people have
needs, but what at the present time, would you say are some of the important things that
Marist could use. What is missing in our present status that you—if you had a chance to
talk to the board, what would be something from your view of the world and upper
education, that would be a worthwhile investment?
00;25;15;27 - 00;26;49;01
52
Bryan Maloney
GN
Well [pause] I would think that, I mean, if I were, you know, if I were to have the opportunity
to tell the board what I thought was important. First, you know, I think that the board should
always be mindful of the heritage of the college. That there is a—there were values upon
which the Marist Brothers founded this institution that will always remain relevant. And so,
for them never to lose sight of that and to keep that as part, that's what that's one of the
things that will distinguish Marist from other institutions, that heritage. You know, the other
thing that I think would be important is to continually look ahead, to try to identify what the
needs of people in society are going to be. You know, in the future, to anticipate. Not, you
know, not to rest on, you know, laurels, or what we have. Marist has kind of never done that.
They've always kind of kept moving ahead. In the early years because they kind of had to.
GN
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
00;26;49;19 - 00;27;13;22
BM
But, you know, once you achieve a certain amount of recognition, you know, some
institutions might tend to sit back on their laurels. But, that's, you know—because in a
53
Bryan Maloney
static world, that might work, but it doesn't work in the world we live in. It just changes too
quickly.
00;27;13;25 - 00;28;41;03
GN
About this time last year, I interviewed Eileen Silco, who was Murray’s secretary, and she's
just retired, and I asked her a question about the students. What has she seen in the
difference of students between her first years, eighteen years ago, according to Dennis,
and today? And I said, you know, we're putting up four new dormitory buildings over there.
You know, and we're not raising the number of students coming on campus. Is it worth it?
Why are we doing this? What would you say would be an explanation for it? She said
students’ interests and needs have changed. For instance, when you came here, probably
very few students in your class had their own bedroom at home. If they had another
brother, they would, they shared a bedroom. Now, most students have their own bedroom.
You know, they come to campus and they’re not going to live in a dormitory per se with, you
know, a number of other people, and so that has changed dramatically. Do you see that in
these kids? Are they independently minded? Do they want their own world, as it were? Their
own cell phone, their own this and that. Or their own car?
00;28;41;24 - 00;29;20;00
54
Bryan Maloney
BM
I don't know—I mean, I see that. I see [pause] I mean, I understand that kids, you know,
many of them grow up differently. And they, you know, they didn’t have to share a bedroom,
they didn’t have to share a bathroom, you know. So, you know, I know colleges have
adapted to that. I also think that, you know, it can be great to have the experience of
rooming with someone. I think it makes you a little bit more tolerant, a little bit more
patient.
00;29;20;06 - 00;29;20;09
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;29;20;09 - 00;29;21;28
BM
A little bit more understanding.
00;29;22;00 - 00;29;23;21
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
55
Bryan Maloney
00;29;23;23 - 00;29;59;23
BM
You know, when you do share a room with somebody. So, I mean, there are pluses to that.
And, you know, I think looking back, you know, at some point, you know, the students of
today, you know, will they have missed something by not sharing a room with somebody.
You know, between that single room and a cell phone, you know, how many—there’s the
degrees of isolation.
00;29;59;27 - 00;30;01;09
GN
Yeah.
00;30;01;11 - 00;30;04;16
BM
You know that, you know, I think—.
00;30;04;23 - 00;30;06;01
56
Bryan Maloney
GN
It’s not a good thing in this day.
00;30;06;02 - 00;30;08;00
BM
Well, you know, I think they miss a lot.
00;30;08;00 - 00;30;09;02
GN
Yeah.
00;30;09;05 - 00;30;16;19
BM
I mean, you could always, I mean, we’d always go back to—you know, when you lived in the
dorm, you know, you were always in somebody’s room BS’ing with somebody about
something.
00;30;16;21 - 00;30;17;10
57
Bryan Maloney
GN
Yeah.
00;30;17;12 - 00;30;42;08
BM
You know, two, two, three, four, five of you, you know. And you know, so maybe, maybe
students today do that online, you know, chatting online or whatever. But is it the same? I
don't know. You know, when you have the, you know, if 90% of communication is nonverbal,
what are you missing?
00;30;42;10 - 00;31;38;24
GN
Well, also you have the point that there used to be a time when students loved to get off
campus and the freedom of being off campus. She says now, that's not the case, they all
want to be here. I mean, there’s—we know we had the residents in town at the hotel. No
more. I mean, everybody wants to be on campus She talked about a mother calling and
saying that she wants her daughter living on campus and, Eileen said, well, there's no
room. And she said, well, I'm going to call the President every day. She says, and when you
do, you'll get me. And here's the story. There was no room for Jesus in the inn, and he had to
go to the stable. There's no room for your daughter, when there is, we’ll let her in, you know.
58
Bryan Maloney
So that, the parents, being their first defendant, want them here. And of course, with more
than half the campus women, there's that tendency of having them under the protection of
the college, I suppose, you know, that that would be the case here.
00;31;38;26 - 00;32;03;19
BM
I think that's a big point, too. So, I think, I mean, I look at today's world as opposed to 1968,
when I came here as a freshman. You know, it's a little bit more dangerous of a world, I
think. Even though there was a lot of stuff going on in 1968, you know, in terms of, you
know, anti-war demonstrations, civil rights demonstrations, riots here in the arena.
00;32;04;07 - 00;32;05;17
GN
Yeah.
00;32;05;20 - 00;32;13;25
BM
You know, which was a little bit, you know, could be, a little bit unnerving at times, you
know.
59
Bryan Maloney
00;32;13;27 - 00;32;14;08
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;32;14;08 - 00;32;18;07
BM
But, I think it's a little bit more dangerous today.
00;32;18;07 - 00;32;19;24
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;32;19;26 - 00;32;40;23
BM
And so, I think families also, you know, that they look at the son or daughters able to live on
campus, and they perceive that as being safer. So that's, I think, one factor. Another factor
60
Bryan Maloney
was, I mean, there was a time when it was cheaper to live off campus than it was to live on
campus—that’s totally changed.
00;32;40;25 - 00;32;41;04
GN
Yeah.
00;32;41;09 - 00;32;46;14
BM
So, you know, there's a lot of factors that go into that.
00;32;46;15 - 00;32;47;24
GN
( ), yeah.
00;32;47;24 - 00;32;48;07
BM
You know?
61
Bryan Maloney
00;32;48;13 - 00;32;48;21
GN
Yeah.
00;32;48;21 - 00;33;01;10
BM
But I think basically, I think families perceive the campus experience as being a little bit
more, as being more safe. So—.
00;33;01;12 - 00;33;31;13
GN
Yeah. One of the last questions that I was—is [pause]. We've played football in a category
that we do, and for one thing, we go to California to play Los Angeles or whoever it is out
there every other year. We put ninety kids on an airplane and fly them across the country.
And so, many people are saying, is it worth it?
00;33;31;13 - 00;34;14;02
62
Bryan Maloney
GN
Other people tell me, yes, you know. We actually have ninety full-time students in
California coming to Marist this year, you know, and that wouldn't be if they didn't know
about the place. You know, and so there's some kind of—another professor in computer
science, Roger Norton, tells me that his statistics show that the college capability, or
interest, or student population in the northeast is fairly drying up. And it's to the west of the
Mississippi that we're going to have to go, you know. If you were in admissions, how would
we get the word out there?
00;34;15;06 - 00;34;25;27
BM
Well, I think, you know, there’s a variety of ways. I mean, I think, you know, I know that
Marist, you know, has an admissions rep who lives in California.
00;34;25;29 - 00;34;28;05
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;34;28;08 - 00;34;55;00
63
Bryan Maloney
BM
Corinne Schell. And Corinne not only covers, you know, the western part of the United
States, but Hawaii. And amazingly enough, we do get good numbers of students from those
areas. But I think, you know, I think when I was in the admissions office, we may have had
between, maybe four thousand alums?
00;34;55;11 - 00;34;56;03
GN
Oh, yeah.
00;34;56;06 - 00;34;59;16
BM
Now we have about, ( ) said forty thousand.
00;34;59;16 - 00;35;01;14
GN
Forty thousand. Yeah.
64
Bryan Maloney
00;35;01;16 - 00;35;26;10
BM
And so, those, I think alums help spread the college's reputation. I think, you know, the
[pause] the name recognition of the school has expanded tremendously, you know,
through, you know, not only through Division one athletics. You know, just—I remember
when we first started to march in the Saint Patrick's Day parade in New York City.
00;35;26;18 - 00;35;28;04
GN
Yeah <laugh>.
00;35;28;07 - 00;35;37;26
BM
I think it was 1980. And, you know, people, you know, there were some people who would
recognize Marist, you know, but, I mean, over the years.
00;35;37;26 - 00;35;38;14
GN
65
Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;35;38;17 - 00;35;44;13
BM
I mean now, it’s, the name recognition is, you know, overwhelming.
00;35;44;16 - 00;35;44;27
GN
Yeah.
00;35;44;27 - 00;35;55;19
BM
And I think that, you know, when I was a student at Marist, you know, people thought the
college was named after Roger Marist, the baseball player—oh Marist College?
00;35;55;19 - 00;35;56;16
GN
Yeah <laugh>.
66
Bryan Maloney
00;35;56;18 - 00;35;58;21
BM
I mean, it was—.
00;35;58;24 - 00;36;02;17
GN
Some thought it was Marxist <laugh>.
00;36;02;17 - 00;36;11;24
BM
Well it was just, you know, I mean, there’s a variety of factors that, you know—if you want to
be in people's choice, they have to have heard your name before.
00;36;12;00 - 00;36;12;10
GN
Yeah.
00;36;12;17 - 00;36;44;20
67
Bryan Maloney
BM
You know, and so I think over the last—I think this this year, I'll be, we'll be forty-five years
since my graduation. So, in the last forty-five years, I think the name recognition the school
has increased tremendously. Not only in our, you know, traditional in the northeastern
region, but, you know, across the country. And, you know, look at the number of
international students. There were students from other countries when I was a student
here—a couple.
00;36;44;22 - 00;36;47;02
GN
About six from Spain, yeah. I had two from—.
00;36;47;04 - 00;36;51;20
BM
Yeah. You know, there was students from Ecuador, students from—.
00;36;51;23 - 00;36;55;11
GN
Brazil. We had a Marist Brother from Brazil. Yeah.
68
Bryan Maloney
00;36;55;13 - 00;37;13;26
BM
I remember two—three students from Ecuador in my time here. [Pause] You know, so, you
know, it's that exchange, I think, you know, the Florence could grow, and will probably
enhance the name.
00;37;14;29 - 00;37;16;20
GN
Yeah.
00;37;17;03 - 00;37;18;18
BM
You know, internationally.
00;37;18;20 - 00;37;18;29
GN
Yeah.
69
Bryan Maloney
00;37;18;29 - 00;37;48;10
BM
So, it's, in that regard, I think when you get back to the football team playing—well, you
know, I’d love to see the basketball team doing a little bit better. Because it’s a much less
expensive program to run probably. But you know, one of the other challenges that many
schools face is maintaining the ratio of men to women.
00;37;48;12 - 00;37;49;09
GN
Yeah.
00;37;49;12 - 00;37;52;18
BM
And, you know, the football team certainly helps to recruit additional men.
GN
Yeah, yeah.
70
Bryan Maloney
BM
To balance that.
00;37;52;20 - 00;37;58;13
GN
Yeah. And baseball as well.
00;37;58;15 - 00;38;01;26
BM
And baseball, yeah. But I mean, there's baseball, and softball for women.
00;38;01;27 - 00;38;02;09
GN
Yeah.
00;38;02;10 - 00;38;05;09
71
Bryan Maloney
BM
But there hasn’t been women’s football yet.
00;38;05;12 - 00;38;06;10
GN
No.
00;38;06;13 - 00;38;09;23
BM
Maybe there will be someday, who knows?
00;38;09;25 - 00;38;32;26
GN
All right. I think I would call it pretty much—is there anything you would like to add to this
that you would like to say in terms of concluding this? This has been a wonderful interview,
and some aspects—some are narrated in cuts—like the Catholicity point. Are we still a
Catholic college? Is that an issue, or should it be?
72
Bryan Maloney
00;38;32;28 - 00;38;36;17
BM
Well, I mean.
00;38;36;20 - 00;38;39;02
GN
I didn't mean to want to go there.
00;38;39;04 - 00;38;47;26
BM
I mean, I—you know, it depends. I mean, there are a lot of families who perceive this to be a
Catholic college.
00;38;47;28 - 00;38;48;15
GN
Right.
00;38;48;18 - 00;38;55;21
73
Bryan Maloney
BM
You know, I can remember being in Admissions when technically, we were not a Catholic
college.
00;38;55;15 - 00;38;56;13
GN
Yeah.
00;38;56;15 - 00;38;59;00
BM
You know, we used to say, well we’re Catholic with a small “c”.
00;38;59;00 - 00;38;59;18
GN
Yeah. Yeah.
00;38;59;18 - 00;39;00;20
BM
74
Bryan Maloney
We just—what does that mean?
00;39;00;22 - 00;39;01;05
GN
Yeah. Yeah.
00;39;01;06 - 00;39;23;25
BM
Well, who the hell knows? I think the college has been Catholic in its heritage. In its culture
for many years. I think that as, [pause] I think that it has become tremendously more
diverse.
00;39;23;26 - 00;39;24;16
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;39;25;22 - 00;39;31;28
BM
75
Bryan Maloney
You know, my understanding now is that 22 percent of the students are students of color.
00;39;32;01 - 00;39;33;06
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;39;33;08 - 00;40;07;25
BM
Which, I think comparatively is an excellent—an excellent ratio. So, you know, I think that
the school is much more diverse now than that was. I'm sure that—if it's, if we're, you know,
and it's not technically a Catholic college. However, as I mentioned before, I think the core
values of the Marist Brothers—and I view the Marist Brothers as being a pretty ecumenical
bunch.
00;40;07;28 - 00;40;09;14
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
76
Bryan Maloney
00;40;09;16 - 00;40;29;15
BM
I mean, they’re never, you know, if you’re not Catholic, we don’t want you. They’ve never
been that way. They’re not—you know, and I don't think they will. But I think their core
values are extremely important. I myself, personally would love—we do have a Catholic
studies program here.
00;40;29;17 - 00;40;30;08
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;40;30;10 - 00;40;40;10
BM
Which I think is important. We also have a Jewish studies program.
00;40;40;12 - 00;40;41;07
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
77
Bryan Maloney
00;40;41;09 - 00;40;49;06
BM
I would love to see Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel always remain a Catholic Chapel. And
I think that would be a wonderful tribute to the Marist Brothers, those founders.
00;40;49;09 - 00;41;45;00
GN
Yeah, good. Well, I asked LaMorte, the priest, the same question. And he said, well, he said
if it was 85% black, would you say it's a black college? You know, if it was 85% Jewish,
would you say it's a Jewish college? Well, 85% of the people who come here claim that
Catholicity is their religion. You know, the percentage is higher than at Notre Dame for
those. So, at that rate, I mean, we have the image of being Catholic, you know, and the
tradition of being Catholic. I mean, the earlier point that you made, I think has to be brought
up and highlighted, and that is the ethical and basic goodness that's sought, you know. To
teach those things that have that kind of influence on the graduates would be, a great
contribution to the country, you know. [Pause]. So, thank you very much, Bryan. It was very
nice having this talk with you.
00;41;45;50 – 00;42;00;00
78
Bryan Maloney
BM
My pleasure.
00;42;00;05 – 00;42;13;80
GN
And the college appreciates it. I hope they do. You might have heard there on, Sunday—or
last Saturday, in fact, ( ) saying that she had used this to get information for what she
wanted to talk about, you know, for Kevin. And Jerry Weiss, last year, I heard, too, that they
went back to his file, to his interview to find out some things that he had said about his
study in the Navy and so on. So, we don't see it today. We see it tomorrow.
00;42;14;02 - 00;42;35;09
BM
I just have one more full thought that popped into my head when we were talking about
[pause] how Marist was kind of a welcoming place, a very ecumenical place.
00;42;24;00 – 00;42;24;50
GN
Yeah.
79
Bryan Maloney
00;42;25;00 - 00;42;35;09
BM
I remember [laughter] taking a course—Principles of Judaism. And the instructor was
Reese Williams, who was Protestant.
00;42;35;12 - 00;42;36;12
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;42;36;14 - 00;42;46;28
BM
So, I had—I’m at a Catholic college taking a course with a Protestant minister who’s
teaching me the principles of Judaism. If that’s not ecumenical, I don’t know what is
[laughter].
00;42;47;01 - 00;42;48;27
GN
80
Bryan Maloney
[Laughter] Wonderful. good.
00;42;48;29 - 00;42;49;12
BM
Thank you.
00;42;49;16 - 00;42;51;24
GN
Do you know how to shut this off?
00;42;51;26 - 00;43;02;07
BM
I have no idea.
00;43;02;10 - 00;43;08;14
GN
Probably at the while this is—nothing on the top? What about over here at the top—I mean
the face?
81
Bryan Maloney
00;43;08;16 - 00;43;08;19
BM
Uh—we can probably—.
END OF INTERVIEW
Bryan Maloney
Interview with: Bryan Maloney
Marist University
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Lola-Dillon Cahill
For the Marist University Archives and Special Collections
2
Bryan Maloney
Interviewee: Bryan Maloney
Interviewer: Gus Nolan
Interview Date: 28 June 2017
Location: James A. Cannavino Library
Topic: In this interview, Gus Nolan asks Bryan Maloney questions about his time as a Marist
student, a middle school teacher, his work in Marist Admissions, and other positions. They
discuss both of their opinions on the direction of the institution.
Subject Headings: Marist University
Marist University, Poughkeepsie, New York
Marist Brothers
Marist College Admissions
Marist College Advancement
Summary: Gus Nolan and Bryan Maloney discuss their thoughts on how Marist has grown
over the past several decades. They also discuss Maloney’s upbringing from childhood, his
career in higher education, his fond memories of the school, views of the current student
body, and much more.
3
Bryan Maloney
00;00;03;08 - 00;00;06;03
Bryan Maloney
Take it from the top.
John Ansley
It’s running.
00;00;06;06 - 00;00;11;13
Gus Nolan
All right. Good morning. Hold on [pause].
00;00;17;15 - 00;00;23;00
GN
Hello. We’re talking now, you don’t hear it yet? He doesn’t hear me yet.
00;00;23;08 - 00;00;28;27
JA
4
Bryan Maloney
Yeah. We're getting the levels up. Yeah. And I did a test, so it ended playback.
00;00;29;00 - 00;00;32;04
GN
Alright, okay.
00;00;32;06 - 00;00;33;21
JA
Let's take this out, then.
00;00;33;21 - 00;00;51;08
GN
Getting ready to go. You hear me now? Okay. Today is Wednesday, the 28th of June. We're
interviewing Bryan Maloney, a class graduate of 1972. Good morning, Bryan.
00;00;51;11 - 00;00;52;19
BM
Good morning, Gus.
5
Bryan Maloney
00;00;52;21 - 00;01;09;25
GN
Bryan, I just said you graduated in ‘72, and you were here just last Saturday for a Marist
event. That’s forty-five years. What is it that brings you back all these years? I've seen you
here ten times a year for the last thirty years. That's three hundred times.
00;01;09;27 - 00;01;11;25
BM
Well, probably a bit more than that.
00;01;12;01 - 00;01;18;28
GN
Oh, I'm sure there is. I wasn't counting, I was just taking a shot at it <laugh>.
00;01;19;01 - 00;01;41;06
BM
6
Bryan Maloney
Well, good shot <laugh>. But yeah. Well, I mean, since I graduated, I've always remained
kind of close to the college, I came back to work here in 1979. <Affirmative>. Dennis Murray
and I started the same day, August 1
st
, 1979, I came to work in the admissions office. When
I was a student, I did an internship in admissions.
00;01;41;08 - 00;01;43;18
GN
Oh. You did?
00;01;43;21 - 00;02;01;22
BM
Yeah, with Dave Flynn. And Jim Daley was my internship partner, a classmate of mine. And
by 1979, Jim had become director of admissions here and he was trying to coax me back
into admissions. I was teaching down at Bishop Dunn in Newburgh.
00;02;01;29 - 00;02;03;05
GN
I see.
7
Bryan Maloney
00;02;03;07 - 00;02;05;25
BM
Teaching, you know, sixth, seventh and eighth grade math and social studies.
00;02;05;25 - 00;02;09;27
GN
I see, oh, I didn't realize you were a teacher there. Go ahead.
00;02;09;29 - 00;02;26;11
BM
And then, Jim finally convinced me that I should please come back to Marist. And, like, I
would convince myself. But since I like to eat, that you know, maybe I should, because, I
was getting sick and tired of cheeseburgers every day.
00;02;26;13 - 00;02;29;00
GN
Right. Okay.
8
Bryan Maloney
00;02;29;00 - 00;02;32;08
BM
Although, it was worth it, you know you'd make a lot of money as a Catholic school teacher.
GN
No, I--.
BM
I mean it was great, but so--.
00;02;34;15 - 00;02;43;12
GN
Yeah. So, you didn't have to--yes. All right. Back to the beginning there. How did it all start?
Where were you born and brought up? What school did you go to?
00;02;43;14 - 00;03;27;06
BM
9
Bryan Maloney
I was born in Flushing, New York. And, my family lived in Jackson Heights at the time. And
then when I was about four, we moved out to Nassau County in Long Island, Bethpage.
Where I attended public school. I am in school until the middle of sixth grade when my
parish opened up a Catholic school, and I had to leave in the middle of the year and go to
Catholic school to finish sixth grade. Over that summer, we moved out to Saint James in
Suffolk County. And then I went to Saints Philip and James School for seventh and eighth
grade in Saint James. And then on to Saint Anthony’s High School.
00;03;27;04 - 00;03;27;17
GN
Saint Anthony’s High School, okay.
00;03;27;21 - 00;03;28;24
BM
Which was then in Smithtown.
00;03;29;01 - 00;03;35;12
GN
10
Bryan Maloney
Okay. And then after high school now, or let’ s go to college now, did you go to college right
after high school?
00;03;35;13 - 00;03;35;21
BM
Yeah.
00;03;35;28 - 00;03;37;03
GN
Yeah, you did.
00;03;37;06 - 00;03;44;22
BM
And I found out about Marist from those that were a year ahead of me in Saint Anthony's
who came to Marist.
00;03;44;24 - 00;03;45;11
GN
11
Bryan Maloney
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;03;45;13 - 00;04;09;02
BM
And, you know, so I would see them and run into them, you know, when they were home.
That's how I found out about Marist. I came up and visited. I didn't get started with my
college applications until late in my senior year, but I came up and visited Marist in March
of my senior year, and, I just knew that this was where I was going to go.
00;04;09;03 - 00;04;29;17
GN
It was just a primitive place, still, was it not? In those years, I mean, the dormitories were,
what was up yet? Yeah, was Fontaine up-or no, excuse me- was [pause] do, I’m getting
them in my mind. Leo Hall was not yet up, was it?
00;04;29;19 - 00;04;33;22
BM
Oh no, it was. It was Sheahan, Leo, and Champagnat were all up.
12
Bryan Maloney
00;04;33;24 - 00;04;34;12
GN
Oh were they?
00;04;34;13 - 00;04;37;28
BM
And. Yeah, so Champagnat being the newest, you know, so.
00;04;37;29 - 00;04;39;10
GN
Yeah, no, I see.
00;04;39;13 - 00;04;56;14
BM
And I had the great, you know, was very fortunate to live in Champagnat all four years.
Which was great because I hate cold and I hate the winter. So, to go to meals in the campus
center.
13
Bryan Maloney
00;04;56;21 - 00;04;58;02
GN
Yeah. Downstairs.
00;04;58;05 - 00;05;05;18
BM
I mean, middle of winter we could go and show up in shorts and flip flops and a t-shirt. And
everybody else was coming over in winter coats and boots and hats and everything.
00;05;05;20 - 00;05;09;16
GN
Oh, okay. Who was your proctor on your floor?
00;05;09;16 - 00;05;26;00
BM
My freshman year, I lived on the first floor, East—no, I lived on the first floor West. And it
was Louie Albert. He was a math professor. He was our proctor on that floor.
14
Bryan Maloney
00;05;27;02 - 00;05;36;19
GN
You never had LaPietra, or any of the brothers in those years, did you?
00;05;37;10 - 00;05;44;13
BM
I’m trying to think. My sophomore year I think we had Brother Pat Forsyth.
00;05;44;16 - 00;05;51;24
GN
Oh, okay. Well, you didn't have the real discipline then, did you? About study only from
seven to nine. Doors open.
00;05;51;24 - 00;05;53;06
BM
My freshman year we did.
00;05;53;08 - 00;05;53;18
15
Bryan Maloney
GN
Oh, you did?
00;05;53;18 - 00;05;54;18
BM
That all changed.
00;05;54;19 - 00;06;00;14
GN
That all changed, yeah. Yeah. Okay. What did you major in while you were here?
00;06;00;16 - 00;06;02;13
BM
Well, I started as a chemistry major.
00;06;02;15 - 00;06;03;03
GN
16
Bryan Maloney
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
00;06;03;05 - 00;06;17;13
BM
And, I had to-you know, what I wanted to do was teach chemistry in high school, but, one of
the things that I didn't take into account was the smell of chemistry labs. This is before
there were fume hoods and all those.
00;06;17;18 - 00;06;18;22
GN
I see.
00;06;18;24 - 00;06;26;16
BM
And actually, you know, you could get by. You know, labs in high school were not that long.
00;06;26;16 - 00;06;27;13
GN
17
Bryan Maloney
Right.
00;06;27;15 - 00;06;38;17
BM
It was still smelly. But, doing—when it came, starting here, you know, we had labs for three
hours at a time. I'm getting nauseous just smelling the chem labs.
00;06;38;20 - 00;06;41;17
GN
So let's not go there. I got the picture <laugh>.
00;06;41;20 - 00;06;46;03
BM
So I decided, you know, maybe chemistry, I mean, I could teach something else, you know?
So—.
00;06;46;03 - 00;06;48;07
GN
18
Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;06;48;09 - 00;06;54;03
BM
You know, so I switched, I changed my major to history, but I kept taking math courses
because I liked math.
00;06;54;05 - 00;06;55;22
GN
I see.
00;06;55;24 - 00;07;11;00
BM
You know, so, which served me well later on when I, like, when I was hired at Bishop Dunne,
as a social studies teacher, they asked me if I could also teach math, and I said, oh, sure, I
was very comfortable doing so.
GN
19
Bryan Maloney
Yeah. I see.
BM
Yeah, so I was glad I stuck with those math courses.
00;07;11;00 - 00;07;18;11
GN
Yeah. Well, high school math would be what? Geometry? Or trigonometry at the most?
00;07;18;13 - 00;07;20;19
BM
Oh, yeah. But I taught sixth, seventh, and eighth grade.
00;07;20;23 - 00;07;23;26
GN
Oh, okay. Yeah.
20
Bryan Maloney
00;07;23;28 - 00;07;26;20
BM
You know, so. You’ve got the algebra [inaudible].
00;07;26;22 - 00;07;34;10
GN
Right. Did you work while you were in college? You know, on-campus or off-campus or—?
00;07;34;12 - 00;07;58;13
BM
You know, both. I mean, my freshman year, I actually hooked up with some musicians and
convinced two guys who were juniors, I think sophomores and juniors, one was a singer
and one was a guitar player. And they had an act going, and I convinced them that they
needed a drummer.
00;07;58;15 - 00;07;59;02
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
21
Bryan Maloney
00;07;59;04 - 00;08;08;29
BM
And I didn't have a set of drums, but I knew one of the guys from my high school who was a
sophomore at Marist. I knew he had drums.
00;08;09;02 - 00;08;09;12
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;08;09;12 - 00;08;12;10
BM
So I would borrow his drums and, you know, we would play.
00;08;12;13 - 00;08;13;18
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
22
Bryan Maloney
00;08;13;21 - 00;08;20;04
BM
At some clubs, you know, around the area. There was actually pretty good money in it, you
know.
00;08;20;06 - 00;08;23;03
GN
Oh, I see. Did you ever have lessons in drumming?
00;08;23;05 - 00;08;26;00
BM
No. I used to play the drum and bugle corps when I was a kid, so.
00;08;26;01 - 00;08;28;20
GN
Oh, I see.
BM
23
Bryan Maloney
<Clears throat> Then the rest was kind of, like—.
GN
Natural to you?
BM
Yeah
GN
Okay.
00;08;30;23 - 00;08;41;28
BM
So then, and then, sophomore year, I worked for the [inaudible] food service.
00;08;42;00 - 00;08;42;24
GN
24
Bryan Maloney
I see.
00;08;42;26 - 00;08;44;00
BM
In the slop room.
00;08;44;03 - 00;08;45;00
GN
I see.
00;08;45;02 - 00;08;45;07
BM
Where everybody returns their trays and dirty dishes.
00;08;45;08 - 00;08;47;24
GN
Yeah, I know it only too well. Yes.
25
Bryan Maloney
00;08;47;28 - 00;08;55;27
BM
And, so we had a lot of fun there. And then, we also worked like, oh, well we had a month
off in—.
00;08;56;00 - 00;08;57;01
GN
January.
00;08;57;03 - 00;09;09;13
BM
For semester break and, we worked, my roommate Bill [inaudible] and I, we worked at
Western Printing during the day.
00;09;09;15 - 00;09;10;09
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
26
Bryan Maloney
00;09;10;24 - 00;09;19;28
BM
And then at night we worked security for Marist. And, you know, so we never got a job
bartending around Derby. You know, which was—.
00;09;20;00 - 00;09;20;10
GN
Oh.
00;09;20;14 - 00;09;22;09
BM
Actually ideal.
00;09;22;11 - 00;09;24;19
GN
Was Doc Doherty an employee there yet?
27
Bryan Maloney
00;09;24;21 - 00;09;25;19
BM
Um—.
00;09;25;22 - 00;09;27;10
GN
Or had he moved on?
00;09;27;10 - 00;09;29;14
BM
You know, I think Doc was. Yeah.
GN
Okay.
00;09;29;16 - 00;09;33;25
BM
28
Bryan Maloney
And Andy Droves was class of ‘68 and a bunch of other Marist guys.
00;09;33;21 - 00;09;43;23
GN
Okay. I really want to get to something more pressing at the moment, and that is, there
must be—did you go to graduate school?
00;09;43;25 - 00;09;44;26
BM
I did indeed.
00;09;44;28 - 00;09;50;29
GN
And you did, administration or fundraising or what was the—?
00;09;50;29 - 00;09;55;18
BM
I got a master's in public administration, from John Jay College.
29
Bryan Maloney
00;09;55;20 - 00;10;00;20
GN
Okay. If you, did you live in the city when you did that, or—?
00;10;00;22 - 00;10;01;10
BM
No, I lived in Poughkeepsie.
00;10;01;10 - 00;10;04;05
GN
You lived in Poughkeepsie, and went down on the train to John Jay?
00;10;04;07 - 00;10;08;04
BM
No, actually, at the time, I was working at Saint Thomas Aquinas College. A lot of them
[inaudible].
30
Bryan Maloney
00;10;08;04 - 00;10;09;17
GN
I see.
00;10;09;20 - 00;10;28;27
BM
And John Jay had an extension center at West Point. So, that was kind of like on my way
home every day. So it was, you know, okay for me that you know, to take the courses at
West Point, because was on my way home. So that's where I did it.
00;10;28;29 - 00;10;57;17
GN
Very good. Let's go back to Marist again. Now, you were employed here, then, with Dennis
Murray coming on board, and you were coming on board. And, what was the situation?
Well, what was the need for Marist? Do we—were we struggling to survive or had we
crossed that bridge? And we were doing pretty well in those years, roughly speaking?
00;10;57;17 - 00;11;33;25
BM
31
Bryan Maloney
Well, you know, I think we were just holding our own. You know, it was 1979. <Clears
throat> Excuse me. The economy wasn't fabulous, but [pause]. You know, I think, you know,
Marist had made a couple of rules in previous years. I mean, one, they got a Title III grant,
which was important, I think that was in ‘77 or ‘78. And, picked up, when Bennett College
closed, in Millbrook, we picked up their fashion merchandising program.
00;11;33;28 - 00;11;37;05
GN
Oh, yeah.
00;11;37;07 - 00;11;49;12
BM
And, so that was a boom to the enrollment. But there, you know, it was kind of pretty lean, I
mean, you know, working in admissions at the time.
00;11;49;13 - 00;11;50;00
GN
Yeah.
32
Bryan Maloney
00;11;50;02 - 00;11;55;20
BM
You know, we were selling the school, when there wasn't that much to sell.
00;11;55;27 - 00;11;56;26
GN
Right.
00;11;56;28 - 00;12;14;03
BM
And, so it was challenging. But there was one thing that I think I know drew me to Marist
immediately when I came to campus. There was kind of a [inaudible] among the students.
00;12;14;05 - 00;12;14;25
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;12;14;28 - 00;12;27;19
33
Bryan Maloney
BM
There was a slight feeling like, okay, we might be an underdog, but we're going to beat you
somehow. We're going to, you know. Yeah. And there was that kind of a spirit.
00;12;27;25 - 00;12;28;02
GN
I see.
00;12;28;03 - 00;12;40;28
BM
When I was a student, you know, and then later on in, you know, in working here, I think, you
know, that was conveyed somehow—that spirit here, when people came to campus.
00;12;40;28 - 00;12;41;22
GN
Yeah.
00;12;41;24 - 00;13;03;24
34
Bryan Maloney
BM
So, yeah, it was challenging. But, you know, Dennis Murray had a vision. And this still stays
with me after all these years. I mean, in his first addresses, you know, to faculty and staff,
you know, he talked about gaining a national reputation for Marist.
00;13;04;01 - 00;13;05;28
GN
Yeah.
00;13;06;00 - 00;13;09;08
BM
But we all thought he was nuts, you know. I mean, it was like, how the heck are we going to
do this?
00;13;09;10 - 00;13;11;13
GN
Get across the Hudson would be fine, you know [laugh].
35
Bryan Maloney
00;13;11;17 - 00;13;17;05
BM
You know, I mean? So, but, you know, he you know, took a very long view.
00;13;17;07 - 00;13;18;10
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;13;18;12 - 00;13;37;16
BM
And I think, you know, he knew that he wanted, you know, some of the flagship programs in
communications, and in computer science. He saw those as two huge assets. He really
played those things up. And the internship programs, I think was another big plus, that he
thought he could leverage. The Marist Institute of Public Opinion, he thought he could
leverage that.
00;13;37;18 - 00;13;38;02
GN
36
Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;13;38;06 - 00;13;47;10
BM
So, he had a pretty grand vision, you know?
00;13;47;17 - 00;13;48;07
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;13;48;09 - 00;13;59;27
BM
And he stuck to it over the years. And, you know, I give him a lot of credit, because he
believed in it before I think a lot of other people could even see it.
00;14;00;06 - 00;14;01;09
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
37
Bryan Maloney
00;14;01;12 - 00;14;03;28
BM
So, I give him tremendous credit for that.
00;14;04;00 - 00;15;34;00
GN
Yeah. That fits into my next question. You look at Marist, now and the contrast between the
old view that we had, are we going to survive? You know, and the view now, I don't know that
I could get in here, much less teach here, you know? In terms of the requirements and
credentials before applying, you know? And so, you say, well, how did this happen? You
know what’s the transfer? I—you mentioned Dennis Murray, but no one ever came here for
his courses. I mean, he's not a great teacher or—that's not the point whether he was or was
not—he was not known to be a teacher. But there were factors involved, and I don't know if
there's one more than the other, or they’re all equal. One, the Marist traditions, because
Marist schools in New York were feeders from the beginning. We’re seventy miles from New
York City. So, we're on a location of the Hudson that's easy to get to. You know, that would
be another. This—you know, Dennis Murray of course, made a major role. And, reaching
out, of course, Linus had set IBM in place, but if he were to be able to capitalize that on
even more, I suppose, in terms of those things. But from an admissions point of view, what
38
Bryan Maloney
would you have said is part of this, the Marist spirit? The kids? They seem to draw each
other. I mean, they’re influenced by one another.
15;34;08 - 00;15;45;06
BM
I think they're—I think that was a part of it. I think a number of things. The location was
great for anybody from the tri-state area.
00;15;45;08 - 00;15;45;26
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;15;45;29 - 00;15;56;09
BM
It had a great location. It was—you know, it was far enough away, but not too far that you
had, you know, take airplane flights all the time.
00;15;56;09 - 00;15;57;16
39
Bryan Maloney
GN
You get home overnight.
00;15;57;16 - 00;16;18;01
BM
Right, there was that. There was—one of the big things too, from an admission standpoint
[clears throat]. Excuse me, was, the New York State tuition assistance program. For New
York state residents, if they went to School in New York State, they could be eligible for a
TAP Grant.
00;16;18;03 - 00;16;18;10
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;16;18;11 - 00;16;29;19
BM
If they're, depending on their financial need. And those sort of things, if, you know, if they
were eligible for that, they could use it at any public or private school in New York State, but
not out of New York State.
40
Bryan Maloney
00;16;29;19 - 00;16;33;12
GN
I see, yeah.
00;16;33;12 - 00;17;05;17
BM
So, it kept New York State residents local. And that was a factor. Plus, I thought, you know,
parents particularly, they looked at, you know, well, if I spend this money on my child's
education, you know, I want them to be able to get a job. Because they'd been through
recessions in the ‘70s, and they were like ( ). You know, so the internship programs were a
big factor in reassuring, you know, families that, you know, they're going to have some
practical experience and a degree when they graduate.
00;17;05;22 - 00;17;06;16
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;17;06;19 - 00;17;37;29
41
Bryan Maloney
BM
So those were things that we leveraged in admissions. And I think that helped
tremendously. And then, you know, once kids got here, the way that Marist people bonded.
And today, I mean, even I have friends who didn’t go to Marist who just marvel at the way
that you know, when Marist people get together, it’s just this natural bond. And they’ve
stayed in touch all these years, and they marvel at that.
GN
Uh-huh, yeah.
00;17;38;02 - 00;17;40;06
BM
Because, they didn't have that experience within their own colleges.
00;17;40;08 - 00;18;52;06
GN
Yeah. I’ve asked—I had father LaMorte here once for this kind of an interview, and I was
asking him of the differences that he saw in his time. He didn't come here, but he did as a
chaplain at the beginning, and later on. And he talked about the economic difference in the
42
Bryan Maloney
students. Two or three people might have had cars when he first came here twenty-five or
thirty years ago. You know, and it looked like they had been banged by trains or something
because they were kind of wrecks. Now, he couldn't afford the cars that most of these
students here have, you know. So, the change in the economic situation of the country all
the tide—the tide went up, the economy is better. And, I suppose we can afford—the point
that you make getting a job seems still to be significant. The tuition now is $50,000 a year.
That's 200,000 for the four years. Are you going to get a job that's going to be able to do
that? So that's part of another question. Is it just to get a job, or is to earn a living, or to learn
how to live, you know? <Laugh>
00;18;52;10 - 00;19;22;08
BM
Well, you know, I mean, having worked in higher ed most of my career [pause] that's a great
question, because it just comes from, from people's needs. I mean, back, I think when I
came to Marist, the thinking was, well, you know, as long as you have a bachelor's degree—
doesn’t make a difference what it’s in—you know, companies and corporations, they’ll train
you. Because they know you’re trainable.
00;19;22;08 - 00;19;24;06
GN
43
Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;19;24;05 - 00;19;29;11
BM
And, you know, Dennis Murray used to always call the liberal arts “the furniture of the
mind”.
00;19;29;11 - 00;19;31;14
GN
Yeah. Yeah.
00;19;31;16 - 00;19;33;08
BM
You know—.
00;19;33;10 - 00;19;38;06
GN
It's been pushed aside a little bit now for, computer science, and—.
44
Bryan Maloney
00;19;38;09 - 00;19;59;29
BM
Well, yeah, maybe it has. Yeah. But you know, I mean, now, I mean, one of the challenges I
think the facing Marist—and not only Marist but all of higher ed, is the fact that yeah, as the
prices escalated, most of the courses that, you know, you could go to college and take, lots
of times you can take them online for nothing.
00;20;00;01 - 00;20;00;21
GN
Yeah.
00;20;00;24 - 00;20;02;20
BM
Stanford, I think their whole curriculum is online.
00;20;02;22 - 00;20;04;06
GN
45
Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;20;04;09 - 00;20;08;00
BM
And you can take it for nothing. You’re maybe not going to get credit unless you pay.
00;20;08;00 - 00;20;08;13
GN
Yeah.
00;20;08;16 - 00;20;48;22
BM
But, I mean, that's, you know, I think a trend. I mean, practically anything somebody wants
to learn, they can do that because of the internet and things that are out there. Now, is that
as valuable as the experience of attending a college like Marist for four years, and being,
you know, enmeshed in an academic community. That's a question that, you know, a lot of
institutions and individuals I think are going to have to answer moving forward. You know,
what is the value?
46
Bryan Maloney
00;20;48;24 - 00;20;49;08
GN
Yeah.
00;20;49;12 - 00;21;09;09
BM
And, you know, I think—I think that, the moral and ethical side is something that, I hope
doesn't get pushed to the side.
00;21;09;11 - 00;21;10;06
GN
Uh-huh
00;21;10;08 - 00;21;19;29
BM
Because you can have all the technical expertise and, you know, abilities in the world. If
you don't know how to use them for good.
47
Bryan Maloney
00;21;20;07 - 00;21;21;29
GN
Yeah, yeah.
00;21;22;01 - 00;21;23;00
BM
<Laugh> We're going to have problems.
00;21;23;05 - 00;21;24;01
GN
Oh, yeah.
00;21;24;04 - 00;21;31;23
BM
You know? So, that's a challenge I think that's going to be facing, you know, all institutions.
00;21;31;25 - 00;22;06;13
48
Bryan Maloney
GN
All right. Look into the Crystal Ball. Where do you see us ten years from now or twenty years
from now? Is Marist still going to be here? Do we need a college education? You know, is it
something that is—does it have a dim future or, we're in a good position now, but, can we
maintain this? Can I, you know, can taking courses online be sufficient? We don't need the
campus. You know, these are fundamental questions, I guess, that are on the table.
00;22;06;22 - 00;22;26;28
BM
Well, it is a great question. And, here's the thing. I mean, spending most of my career in
higher education in the advancement area and the fundraising area. People would ask me,
well, you know, what does the college need? I said, colleges have no needs.
00;22;27;00 - 00;22;27;26
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;22;27;29 - 00;22;29;03
BM
49
Bryan Maloney
People have needs.
00;22;29;06 - 00;22;30;00
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;22;30;03 - 00;23;01;28
BM
Colleges have means of meeting those needs. They have solutions, but they don't have
needs. So, the needs of the people will determine whether Marist is going to be here in ten
years, in twenty years. The needs of society, the needs of individuals. And Marist’s ability to
meet those needs is going to determine, I believe, you know, whether it's still going to be
here, whether it still has value.
00;23;02;00 - 00;23;03;15
GN
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
50
Bryan Maloney
00;23;03;17 - 00;23;11;01
BM
And that's, as I say, that’s a challenge for all institutions. But that's the way I look at it,
because—.
00;23;11;04 - 00;23;45;15
GN
Yeah. Well, we may not need a course in old English literature, outside of amusement on
how the early stories ( ). But I think the MedTech program has a practical application.
People want to stay well when they fall. They want to be able to be cured of it, you know?
And so that building over there that we recently put up, it would probably be, you know,
more of a lifesaver than we appreciate. Given those points you just made, you know?
00;23;45;20 - 00;24;22;03
BM
Well, that's because society has a need for physician’s assistants and, you know, all the
other, associated fields in medical technology. But, because Marist is meeting a need that
society has, that people have. So, that's a great step in the right direction, you know? I’m
51
Bryan Maloney
sure that you know, whether the world needs another law school, I’m not so sure. But, you
know.
00;24;22;06 - 00;24;43;00
GN
Yeah, I—there was a question about the new president. Is this in the mind of the trustees
that they say, well, you know, law is always a source of great income for lawyers. Not so
much in our day. I mean, some of them are making minimal salaries, and many are looking
for something better to do.
00;24;43;02 - 00;25;15;25
GN
And ( ) from court to court. You say there's no needs of the college and that people have
needs, but what at the present time, would you say are some of the important things that
Marist could use. What is missing in our present status that you—if you had a chance to
talk to the board, what would be something from your view of the world and upper
education, that would be a worthwhile investment?
00;25;15;27 - 00;26;49;01
52
Bryan Maloney
GN
Well [pause] I would think that, I mean, if I were, you know, if I were to have the opportunity
to tell the board what I thought was important. First, you know, I think that the board should
always be mindful of the heritage of the college. That there is a—there were values upon
which the Marist Brothers founded this institution that will always remain relevant. And so,
for them never to lose sight of that and to keep that as part, that's what that's one of the
things that will distinguish Marist from other institutions, that heritage. You know, the other
thing that I think would be important is to continually look ahead, to try to identify what the
needs of people in society are going to be. You know, in the future, to anticipate. Not, you
know, not to rest on, you know, laurels, or what we have. Marist has kind of never done that.
They've always kind of kept moving ahead. In the early years because they kind of had to.
GN
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
00;26;49;19 - 00;27;13;22
BM
But, you know, once you achieve a certain amount of recognition, you know, some
institutions might tend to sit back on their laurels. But, that's, you know—because in a
53
Bryan Maloney
static world, that might work, but it doesn't work in the world we live in. It just changes too
quickly.
00;27;13;25 - 00;28;41;03
GN
About this time last year, I interviewed Eileen Silco, who was Murray’s secretary, and she's
just retired, and I asked her a question about the students. What has she seen in the
difference of students between her first years, eighteen years ago, according to Dennis,
and today? And I said, you know, we're putting up four new dormitory buildings over there.
You know, and we're not raising the number of students coming on campus. Is it worth it?
Why are we doing this? What would you say would be an explanation for it? She said
students’ interests and needs have changed. For instance, when you came here, probably
very few students in your class had their own bedroom at home. If they had another
brother, they would, they shared a bedroom. Now, most students have their own bedroom.
You know, they come to campus and they’re not going to live in a dormitory per se with, you
know, a number of other people, and so that has changed dramatically. Do you see that in
these kids? Are they independently minded? Do they want their own world, as it were? Their
own cell phone, their own this and that. Or their own car?
00;28;41;24 - 00;29;20;00
54
Bryan Maloney
BM
I don't know—I mean, I see that. I see [pause] I mean, I understand that kids, you know,
many of them grow up differently. And they, you know, they didn’t have to share a bedroom,
they didn’t have to share a bathroom, you know. So, you know, I know colleges have
adapted to that. I also think that, you know, it can be great to have the experience of
rooming with someone. I think it makes you a little bit more tolerant, a little bit more
patient.
00;29;20;06 - 00;29;20;09
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;29;20;09 - 00;29;21;28
BM
A little bit more understanding.
00;29;22;00 - 00;29;23;21
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
55
Bryan Maloney
00;29;23;23 - 00;29;59;23
BM
You know, when you do share a room with somebody. So, I mean, there are pluses to that.
And, you know, I think looking back, you know, at some point, you know, the students of
today, you know, will they have missed something by not sharing a room with somebody.
You know, between that single room and a cell phone, you know, how many—there’s the
degrees of isolation.
00;29;59;27 - 00;30;01;09
GN
Yeah.
00;30;01;11 - 00;30;04;16
BM
You know that, you know, I think—.
00;30;04;23 - 00;30;06;01
56
Bryan Maloney
GN
It’s not a good thing in this day.
00;30;06;02 - 00;30;08;00
BM
Well, you know, I think they miss a lot.
00;30;08;00 - 00;30;09;02
GN
Yeah.
00;30;09;05 - 00;30;16;19
BM
I mean, you could always, I mean, we’d always go back to—you know, when you lived in the
dorm, you know, you were always in somebody’s room BS’ing with somebody about
something.
00;30;16;21 - 00;30;17;10
57
Bryan Maloney
GN
Yeah.
00;30;17;12 - 00;30;42;08
BM
You know, two, two, three, four, five of you, you know. And you know, so maybe, maybe
students today do that online, you know, chatting online or whatever. But is it the same? I
don't know. You know, when you have the, you know, if 90% of communication is nonverbal,
what are you missing?
00;30;42;10 - 00;31;38;24
GN
Well, also you have the point that there used to be a time when students loved to get off
campus and the freedom of being off campus. She says now, that's not the case, they all
want to be here. I mean, there’s—we know we had the residents in town at the hotel. No
more. I mean, everybody wants to be on campus She talked about a mother calling and
saying that she wants her daughter living on campus and, Eileen said, well, there's no
room. And she said, well, I'm going to call the President every day. She says, and when you
do, you'll get me. And here's the story. There was no room for Jesus in the inn, and he had to
go to the stable. There's no room for your daughter, when there is, we’ll let her in, you know.
58
Bryan Maloney
So that, the parents, being their first defendant, want them here. And of course, with more
than half the campus women, there's that tendency of having them under the protection of
the college, I suppose, you know, that that would be the case here.
00;31;38;26 - 00;32;03;19
BM
I think that's a big point, too. So, I think, I mean, I look at today's world as opposed to 1968,
when I came here as a freshman. You know, it's a little bit more dangerous of a world, I
think. Even though there was a lot of stuff going on in 1968, you know, in terms of, you
know, anti-war demonstrations, civil rights demonstrations, riots here in the arena.
00;32;04;07 - 00;32;05;17
GN
Yeah.
00;32;05;20 - 00;32;13;25
BM
You know, which was a little bit, you know, could be, a little bit unnerving at times, you
know.
59
Bryan Maloney
00;32;13;27 - 00;32;14;08
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;32;14;08 - 00;32;18;07
BM
But, I think it's a little bit more dangerous today.
00;32;18;07 - 00;32;19;24
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;32;19;26 - 00;32;40;23
BM
And so, I think families also, you know, that they look at the son or daughters able to live on
campus, and they perceive that as being safer. So that's, I think, one factor. Another factor
60
Bryan Maloney
was, I mean, there was a time when it was cheaper to live off campus than it was to live on
campus—that’s totally changed.
00;32;40;25 - 00;32;41;04
GN
Yeah.
00;32;41;09 - 00;32;46;14
BM
So, you know, there's a lot of factors that go into that.
00;32;46;15 - 00;32;47;24
GN
( ), yeah.
00;32;47;24 - 00;32;48;07
BM
You know?
61
Bryan Maloney
00;32;48;13 - 00;32;48;21
GN
Yeah.
00;32;48;21 - 00;33;01;10
BM
But I think basically, I think families perceive the campus experience as being a little bit
more, as being more safe. So—.
00;33;01;12 - 00;33;31;13
GN
Yeah. One of the last questions that I was—is [pause]. We've played football in a category
that we do, and for one thing, we go to California to play Los Angeles or whoever it is out
there every other year. We put ninety kids on an airplane and fly them across the country.
And so, many people are saying, is it worth it?
00;33;31;13 - 00;34;14;02
62
Bryan Maloney
GN
Other people tell me, yes, you know. We actually have ninety full-time students in
California coming to Marist this year, you know, and that wouldn't be if they didn't know
about the place. You know, and so there's some kind of—another professor in computer
science, Roger Norton, tells me that his statistics show that the college capability, or
interest, or student population in the northeast is fairly drying up. And it's to the west of the
Mississippi that we're going to have to go, you know. If you were in admissions, how would
we get the word out there?
00;34;15;06 - 00;34;25;27
BM
Well, I think, you know, there’s a variety of ways. I mean, I think, you know, I know that
Marist, you know, has an admissions rep who lives in California.
00;34;25;29 - 00;34;28;05
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
00;34;28;08 - 00;34;55;00
63
Bryan Maloney
BM
Corinne Schell. And Corinne not only covers, you know, the western part of the United
States, but Hawaii. And amazingly enough, we do get good numbers of students from those
areas. But I think, you know, I think when I was in the admissions office, we may have had
between, maybe four thousand alums?
00;34;55;11 - 00;34;56;03
GN
Oh, yeah.
00;34;56;06 - 00;34;59;16
BM
Now we have about, ( ) said forty thousand.
00;34;59;16 - 00;35;01;14
GN
Forty thousand. Yeah.
64
Bryan Maloney
00;35;01;16 - 00;35;26;10
BM
And so, those, I think alums help spread the college's reputation. I think, you know, the
[pause] the name recognition of the school has expanded tremendously, you know,
through, you know, not only through Division one athletics. You know, just—I remember
when we first started to march in the Saint Patrick's Day parade in New York City.
00;35;26;18 - 00;35;28;04
GN
Yeah <laugh>.
00;35;28;07 - 00;35;37;26
BM
I think it was 1980. And, you know, people, you know, there were some people who would
recognize Marist, you know, but, I mean, over the years.
00;35;37;26 - 00;35;38;14
GN
65
Bryan Maloney
Yeah.
00;35;38;17 - 00;35;44;13
BM
I mean now, it’s, the name recognition is, you know, overwhelming.
00;35;44;16 - 00;35;44;27
GN
Yeah.
00;35;44;27 - 00;35;55;19
BM
And I think that, you know, when I was a student at Marist, you know, people thought the
college was named after Roger Marist, the baseball player—oh Marist College?
00;35;55;19 - 00;35;56;16
GN
Yeah <laugh>.
66
Bryan Maloney
00;35;56;18 - 00;35;58;21
BM
I mean, it was—.
00;35;58;24 - 00;36;02;17
GN
Some thought it was Marxist <laugh>.
00;36;02;17 - 00;36;11;24
BM
Well it was just, you know, I mean, there’s a variety of factors that, you know—if you want to
be in people's choice, they have to have heard your name before.
00;36;12;00 - 00;36;12;10
GN
Yeah.
00;36;12;17 - 00;36;44;20
67
Bryan Maloney
BM
You know, and so I think over the last—I think this this year, I'll be, we'll be forty-five years
since my graduation. So, in the last forty-five years, I think the name recognition the school
has increased tremendously. Not only in our, you know, traditional in the northeastern
region, but, you know, across the country. And, you know, look at the number of
international students. There were students from other countries when I was a student
here—a couple.
00;36;44;22 - 00;36;47;02
GN
About six from Spain, yeah. I had two from—.
00;36;47;04 - 00;36;51;20
BM
Yeah. You know, there was students from Ecuador, students from—.
00;36;51;23 - 00;36;55;11
GN
Brazil. We had a Marist Brother from Brazil. Yeah.
68
Bryan Maloney
00;36;55;13 - 00;37;13;26
BM
I remember two—three students from Ecuador in my time here. [Pause] You know, so, you
know, it's that exchange, I think, you know, the Florence could grow, and will probably
enhance the name.
00;37;14;29 - 00;37;16;20
GN
Yeah.
00;37;17;03 - 00;37;18;18
BM
You know, internationally.
00;37;18;20 - 00;37;18;29
GN
Yeah.
69
Bryan Maloney
00;37;18;29 - 00;37;48;10
BM
So, it's, in that regard, I think when you get back to the football team playing—well, you
know, I’d love to see the basketball team doing a little bit better. Because it’s a much less
expensive program to run probably. But you know, one of the other challenges that many
schools face is maintaining the ratio of men to women.
00;37;48;12 - 00;37;49;09
GN
Yeah.
00;37;49;12 - 00;37;52;18
BM
And, you know, the football team certainly helps to recruit additional men.
GN
Yeah, yeah.
70
Bryan Maloney
BM
To balance that.
00;37;52;20 - 00;37;58;13
GN
Yeah. And baseball as well.
00;37;58;15 - 00;38;01;26
BM
And baseball, yeah. But I mean, there's baseball, and softball for women.
00;38;01;27 - 00;38;02;09
GN
Yeah.
00;38;02;10 - 00;38;05;09
71
Bryan Maloney
BM
But there hasn’t been women’s football yet.
00;38;05;12 - 00;38;06;10
GN
No.
00;38;06;13 - 00;38;09;23
BM
Maybe there will be someday, who knows?
00;38;09;25 - 00;38;32;26
GN
All right. I think I would call it pretty much—is there anything you would like to add to this
that you would like to say in terms of concluding this? This has been a wonderful interview,
and some aspects—some are narrated in cuts—like the Catholicity point. Are we still a
Catholic college? Is that an issue, or should it be?
72
Bryan Maloney
00;38;32;28 - 00;38;36;17
BM
Well, I mean.
00;38;36;20 - 00;38;39;02
GN
I didn't mean to want to go there.
00;38;39;04 - 00;38;47;26
BM
I mean, I—you know, it depends. I mean, there are a lot of families who perceive this to be a
Catholic college.
00;38;47;28 - 00;38;48;15
GN
Right.
00;38;48;18 - 00;38;55;21
73
Bryan Maloney
BM
You know, I can remember being in Admissions when technically, we were not a Catholic
college.
00;38;55;15 - 00;38;56;13
GN
Yeah.
00;38;56;15 - 00;38;59;00
BM
You know, we used to say, well we’re Catholic with a small “c”.
00;38;59;00 - 00;38;59;18
GN
Yeah. Yeah.
00;38;59;18 - 00;39;00;20
BM
74
Bryan Maloney
We just—what does that mean?
00;39;00;22 - 00;39;01;05
GN
Yeah. Yeah.
00;39;01;06 - 00;39;23;25
BM
Well, who the hell knows? I think the college has been Catholic in its heritage. In its culture
for many years. I think that as, [pause] I think that it has become tremendously more
diverse.
00;39;23;26 - 00;39;24;16
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;39;25;22 - 00;39;31;28
BM
75
Bryan Maloney
You know, my understanding now is that 22 percent of the students are students of color.
00;39;32;01 - 00;39;33;06
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;39;33;08 - 00;40;07;25
BM
Which, I think comparatively is an excellent—an excellent ratio. So, you know, I think that
the school is much more diverse now than that was. I'm sure that—if it's, if we're, you know,
and it's not technically a Catholic college. However, as I mentioned before, I think the core
values of the Marist Brothers—and I view the Marist Brothers as being a pretty ecumenical
bunch.
00;40;07;28 - 00;40;09;14
GN
Uh-huh <affirmative>.
76
Bryan Maloney
00;40;09;16 - 00;40;29;15
BM
I mean, they’re never, you know, if you’re not Catholic, we don’t want you. They’ve never
been that way. They’re not—you know, and I don't think they will. But I think their core
values are extremely important. I myself, personally would love—we do have a Catholic
studies program here.
00;40;29;17 - 00;40;30;08
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;40;30;10 - 00;40;40;10
BM
Which I think is important. We also have a Jewish studies program.
00;40;40;12 - 00;40;41;07
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
77
Bryan Maloney
00;40;41;09 - 00;40;49;06
BM
I would love to see Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel always remain a Catholic Chapel. And
I think that would be a wonderful tribute to the Marist Brothers, those founders.
00;40;49;09 - 00;41;45;00
GN
Yeah, good. Well, I asked LaMorte, the priest, the same question. And he said, well, he said
if it was 85% black, would you say it's a black college? You know, if it was 85% Jewish,
would you say it's a Jewish college? Well, 85% of the people who come here claim that
Catholicity is their religion. You know, the percentage is higher than at Notre Dame for
those. So, at that rate, I mean, we have the image of being Catholic, you know, and the
tradition of being Catholic. I mean, the earlier point that you made, I think has to be brought
up and highlighted, and that is the ethical and basic goodness that's sought, you know. To
teach those things that have that kind of influence on the graduates would be, a great
contribution to the country, you know. [Pause]. So, thank you very much, Bryan. It was very
nice having this talk with you.
00;41;45;50 – 00;42;00;00
78
Bryan Maloney
BM
My pleasure.
00;42;00;05 – 00;42;13;80
GN
And the college appreciates it. I hope they do. You might have heard there on, Sunday—or
last Saturday, in fact, ( ) saying that she had used this to get information for what she
wanted to talk about, you know, for Kevin. And Jerry Weiss, last year, I heard, too, that they
went back to his file, to his interview to find out some things that he had said about his
study in the Navy and so on. So, we don't see it today. We see it tomorrow.
00;42;14;02 - 00;42;35;09
BM
I just have one more full thought that popped into my head when we were talking about
[pause] how Marist was kind of a welcoming place, a very ecumenical place.
00;42;24;00 – 00;42;24;50
GN
Yeah.
79
Bryan Maloney
00;42;25;00 - 00;42;35;09
BM
I remember [laughter] taking a course—Principles of Judaism. And the instructor was
Reese Williams, who was Protestant.
00;42;35;12 - 00;42;36;12
GN
Uh-huh [affirmative].
00;42;36;14 - 00;42;46;28
BM
So, I had—I’m at a Catholic college taking a course with a Protestant minister who’s
teaching me the principles of Judaism. If that’s not ecumenical, I don’t know what is
[laughter].
00;42;47;01 - 00;42;48;27
GN
80
Bryan Maloney
[Laughter] Wonderful. good.
00;42;48;29 - 00;42;49;12
BM
Thank you.
00;42;49;16 - 00;42;51;24
GN
Do you know how to shut this off?
00;42;51;26 - 00;43;02;07
BM
I have no idea.
00;43;02;10 - 00;43;08;14
GN
Probably at the while this is—nothing on the top? What about over here at the top—I mean
the face?
81
Bryan Maloney
00;43;08;16 - 00;43;08;19
BM
Uh—we can probably—.
END OF INTERVIEW
